The Centre, P.C. - Plastic Surgery Blog

Danish Study Shows Fewer Breast Enlargement Complications - Wednesday, September 30, 2009

When women are considering breast enlargement, one potential deterrent is the likelihood of surgical complications. However, a new study published in the official journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, shows complication rates of breast enlargement are lower than previously reported. The study was large in both numbers and length. It followed nearly 5400 women who had breast augmentation from 1999-2007 for an average of 3.8 years. Some patients were followed for the entire length of the study.

The study showed that only 16.7% of breast enlargement patients experienced any complication whatsoever. Only 4.8% of patients had complications requiring surgery. These rates are much lower than complication rates reported elsewhere, such as in the informed consent documents patients are given before breast enlargement. It grouped complications by 30-day, 3 year, and 5-year occurrences. Within 30 days of surgery, hematoma and infection were the most common complications with 1.1% and 1.2% occurrences, respectively. Within 5 years, changes in skin sensation and asymmetry or displacement of breast implants were the most common complications. The study indicated that 8.7% of the women experienced skin sensation and asymmetry issues while 5.2% experienced implant displacement.

These complication rates are averages, and rates vary between surgeons. If you would like to learn more about breast enlargement at The Centre, P.C., including more about the safety of the procedure, please schedule a consultation at our South Bend, Elkhart, or Chesterton, Indiana offices.

Look Younger, Feel Younger, and Enjoy Life Longer - Thursday, September 24, 2009

We all know that what's really important to enjoying a long life is being "young at heart." For some people, this may come easily, but for others it can be a challenge. If you get up in the morning and the face staring back at you in the mirror keeps looking older and older, it can make you feel older, too. Even worse can be seeing your apparent age reflected in the faces of those around you, making it hard for you to keep your youthful spirits up.

But at The Centre, P.C., we offer many options for helping you maintain a youthful appearance, or even counteract some of the effects of aging to roll back the clock on your apparent age. If you're just beginning to see signs of age, here are some options for maintaining youthfulness with great skin care:

• Facials
• Light peels
• Advanced skin care products, including our own Centre Yourself Cosmeceuticals

On the other hand, if you have more than just a hint of aging, we offer treatments that can minimize or erase wrinkles, including:

• Laser skin rejuvenation
• BOTOX® Cosmetic injections
• Dermal filler (Restylane, Perlane, and Radiesse) injections

And if you have significant symptoms of facial aging, including hanging jowls, tired eyes and brows, sunken eyes and other symptoms, we offer surgical rejuvenation procedures as well:

• Facelift
• Brow lift
• Eyelid surgery
• SmartLipo

No matter whether you have deep facial folds and hanging skin, a few wrinkles and fine lines, or just a diminished "glow" to your skin, The Centre, P.C. can help. Please contact us today at our South Bend, Chesterton, or Elkhart, Indiana offices.

Celebrity Cosmetic Procedures: Why They Do It, Why They Deny It, and Why We Care - Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Demi Moore recently made news when she denied having plastic surgery, a claim that many quickly disputed. Although there is no evidence that Demi Moore has actually had cosmetic surgery, people's skepticism is justified. Celebrity plastic surgery is often a closely guarded secret, and according to one industry source 9 out of 10 celebrities over the age of 40 maintain their appearance with treatments like BOTOX® Cosmetic. But most deny it. Even celebrities whose BOTOX® Cosmetic injections or surgical procedures like rhinoplasty are public knowledge continue to deny it or explain it as a deviated septum. Why do celebrities seek out surgery and treatments, why do they hide it, and why do we care?

Celebrities have the same reasons as many people for seeking plastic surgery or cosmetic treatments, just more so. People often say that the beautiful women who inhabit magazines and movies can make "normal" women feel insecure, but the women on the billboards or magazines see themselves in these ubiquitous mirrors that reproduce and magnify every flaw. And the constant crush of aspiring young stars makes actresses as young as 25 feeling pressure to look "young," Under these conditions, it is no surprise that plastic surgery may come to be the norm.

But why do so many celebrities deny their plastic surgery procedures? Women and men would not seek out breast implants or a nose job if they weren't self-conscious, so their denial is understandable on a personal level. Professionally, they also have an obligation to deny surgery. Hollywood is The Dream Factory. "Natural" beauties are part of that dream--always have been. In early Hollywood, they used makeup, bottle blondes, and soft focus filters overtly. Behind the scenes, though, plastic surgery was always part of their strategy. And since many celebrities have endorsement contracts with beauty products, admitting surgery can undermine their status as spokespeople.

So what makes us care whether these men and women have had cheek augmentation or a tummy tuck? Mass media and celebrities reach into our lives in a very personal way. For most of human history, the people whose faces we recognized were our family and close friends. But media allows us to recognize celebrities without ever having met them "in person." We may rationally know these people are not close to us, but we often cannot help being emotionally involved with them.

And it is partly because so many members of our extended virtual family have had plastic surgery that its popularity has grown in general. If you would like to learn more about plastic surgery for you, please contact The Centre, P.C. with offices in South Bend, Charleston, and Elkhart, Indiana.

Plastic Surgery a Worldwide Phenomenon - Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Most people think that plastic surgery is primarily an American characteristic, but people all around the world invest in plastic surgery to look and feel their best. In fact, a 2002 survey of countries worldwide showed that the US was actually 19th in per capita plastic surgery procedures out of 34 countries. Whereas people in the US had about 30.77 procedures per 100,000 people (only 2/3 of the weighted average of about 45 per 100,000), people in Switzerland had over seven times as many, a whopping 214.62 per 100,000. The most popular procedures in Switzerland? BOTOX® Cosmetic injections, liposuction, and breast reduction.

Rounding out the top five countries for plastic surgery: Cyprus, Spain, Lebanon, and Greece. In Cyprus and Lebanon, as in most Middle Eastern countries, the number one procedure was rhinoplasty. In Spain, it was breast augmentation, while in Greece it was BOTOX® Cosmetic injections.

These figures are a little out of date with the recent worldwide boom in plastic surgery (growing, on average, 20% per year since the survey). In Britain, for example, the current rate of plastic surgery procedures is 55.80 per 100,000, compared to a reported rate of 7.72 in 2002. And in the US, the rate is 567 plastic surgery procedures per 100,000. There is some uncertainty in reporting rates from surgeons, and other inherent uncertainties in statistics, but the truth is that people worldwide seek out plastic surgery to improve their appearance.

If you would like to learn more about plastic surgery, please call or email The Centre, P.C. in South Bend, Elkhart, and Charleston, Indiana.